Reduction of backlog: The experience of the Strasbourg Program and the census of Italian civil justice system

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1 Reduction of backlog: The experience of the Strasbourg Program and the census of Italian civil justice system Luca Verzelloni Researcher Centre of Social Studies of the University of Coimbra

2 ENCJ South-Western Seminar on Timeliness Madrid, November 2016 REDUCTION OF BACKLOG The Experience of the Strasbourg Program and the Census of Italian Civil Justice System Luca Verzelloni

3 INTRODUCTION (I) THE STARTING POINT Article 111 of the Italian Constitution (Constitutional Law no. 2 of ) Fair Trial Principle ( giusto processo ) «Jurisdiction is implemented through due process regulated by law. All court trials are conducted with adversary proceedings and the parties are entitled to equal conditions before an impartial judge in third party position. The law provides for the reasonable duration of trials» Article 6-1. Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms (Rome, 4 November 1950)

INTRODUCTION (II) EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY STATES Overview 1959-2015 LENGTH OF

4 INTRODUCTION (II) EUROPEAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS BY STATES Overview LENGTH OF PROCEEDINGS Article 6-1 of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Total 5.435

5 INTRODUCTION (III) THE PINTO LAW Compensation for violation of the right to a reasonable length of the judicial proceeding (Law 89/2001) Budgetary costs: from 4 mln. (2002) to 205 mln. (2011) Total: more than 400 mln. (Source: Ministry of Justice 2011) A NEVER-ENDING SEASON OF REFORMS In the last 20 years, 22 major reforms of the Code of Civil Procedures have been introduced by the 13 Governments, which have followed each other in Italy tsunami of civil justice reforms (Costantino 2005: 1167)

6 INTRODUCTION (IV) Δ SUPREME COURT OF CASSATION APPEAL COURTS JUVENILE COURTS ORDINARY TRIBUNALS JUSTICE OF THE PEACE OFFICES days days (40 months) 846 days days (35 months) 641 days 668 days (22 months) 485 days 423 days (14 months) 240 days 345 days (11 months) +140 days +215 days +27 days -62 days +105 days Average length of the civil proceedings (in days). (Source: Ministry of Justice Our elaboration)

STRASBOURG PROGRAMME (I) THE CASE OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF TURIN PROFESSIONAL JUDGES: 147 LAY JUDGES: 31 CLERKS: 370 JURISDICTION AREA: big RATIO P-JUD/RESIDENTS: 10.

7 STRASBOURG PROGRAMME (I) THE CASE OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF TURIN PROFESSIONAL JUDGES: 147 LAY JUDGES: 31 CLERKS: 370 JURISDICTION AREA: big RATIO P-JUD/RESIDENTS: (Source: Ministry of Justice and Council for the Judiciary) The Strasbourg Programme is Italy s first attempt to manage court cases in such a way as to bring about a substantial reduction in the backlog of cases and speed up the processing of civil cases (Mario Barbuto, former President) Crystal Scales of Justice Prize (2006) Best practice of CEPEJ Pilot court of Saturn-CEPEJ Best practices Database of the Italian CSM

8 STRASBOURG PROGRAMME (II) THE IDEA BEHIND THE PROGRAMME The proceedings lasting for longer than 3 years could be considered as in violation of reasonable time under art. 6-1 of the ECHR THE STEPS OF THE PROGRAMME Monitoring of court s backlog (regular 6-months analysis) Introduction of specific judicial files tags (more than 6 months; between 6 months and 2,5 years; more than 2,5 years) Definition of a Decalogue, addressed to civil judges, with the aim of reducing the so-called Pinto risk ( living document : 17 editions) Involvement of the local Bar Association

9 STRASBOURG PROGRAMME (III) THE DECALOGUE A radical change: from LIFO (last in, last out) to FIFO (first in, first out) model Absolute priority of cases pending for over 3-years General idea (at unchanged legislation): every single judge plays an active role in ensuring the rapid progress of the proceedings Active case management Timing agreement with parties and lawyers Co-operation and monitoring of other actors (experts, witnesses, etc.) Suppression of procedural abuses (Source: Oberto 2011 Study on measures adopted in Turin s Court along the lines of Saturn Guidelines for Judicial Time Management )

10 STRASBOURG PROGRAMME (IV) THE RESULTS OF THE PROGRAMME Although not formally binding, the Decalogue is become a sort of accountability tool, even if informal, to evaluate and, potentially, to sanction, under the aspect of reputation, the judges who do not follow its provisions and suggestions (Source: interviews) Reduction of the backlog in the period : 26,6% Number of Pinto claims in the period : 66 (vs 3000 of the Court of Rome) Percentage of cases pending for less than 3-years: 93,33% (At Source: Barbuto 2007) Average length of the civil proceedings: 184 days (vs 423: national average) (Year: Source: Ministry of Justice)

11 STRASBOURG 2.0 PROGRAMME (I) FROM TURIN TO THE NATIONAL LEVEL On January 2015, the Italian Ministry of Justice presented the so-called Strasbourg 2.0 Programme. The project aims to fight the backlog pendency and to speed up civil proceedings In-depth analysis of pending civil proceedings (Census of Italian Civil Justice System: ) Definition of a list of performance indicators Publication of regular statistical reports Definition of incentives for virtuous judicial offices Encouraging (not forcing) the dissemination of the Decalogue (Source: Ministry of Justice 2015)

12 STRASBOURG 2.0 PROGRAMME (II) Introduction of the Data Warehouse System of Civil Justice (DWGC)

PERSPECTIVES What is the room of manoeuvre for presidents of courts and chief prosecutors? How they can promote efficiency and quality of justice?

13 PERSPECTIVES What is the room of manoeuvre for presidents of courts and chief prosecutors? How they can promote efficiency and quality of justice? This debate has clear implications in terms of selection, evaluation and training of these figures Average length of the civil proceedings (Source: Ministry of Justice Interactive map) Consolidated Act on Judicial Executives (Resolution ) introduced by the Italian Council for the Judiciary (CSM)

14 ENCJ South-Western Seminar on Timeliness Madrid, November 2016 REDUCTION OF BACKLOG The Experience of the Strasbourg Program and the Census of Italian Civil Justice System Luca Verzelloni

The Saturn Centre Experiences. Ivana Borzova Member of the Bureau of CEPEJ

The Saturn Centre Experiences. Ivana Borzova Member of the Bureau of CEPEJ The Saturn Centre Experiences Ivana Borzova Member of the Bureau of CEPEJ SATURN CENTRE EXPERIENCES ENCJ TIMELINESS SEMINAR MADRID NOVEMBER 2016 EVALUATION REPORT ON EUROPEAN JUDICIAL SYSTEMS EDITION 2016